3 Bodies and Dead Infant Found at Home

July 30, 2007

By WILLIAM MARRA

An Ocean City, Md., woman whom friends described as "introverted" and just a "typical person" has been charged with murder after police found a dead infant and the remains of three other fetuses in and around her home this weekend.

This quiet summer resort town is reeling from authorities' grisly discovery of a small infant's body in the home of Christy Freeman, 37, Thursday night. Freeman was admitted to a hospital earlier that day after apparently having given birth. By Friday, the remains of three other infants had also been found.

"This is totally from left field," said Hunter Frey, who has known Freeman for eight years. Frey said that he and others he'd spoken to did not know Freeman was pregnant. "It wasn't known to anybody. A lot of people had no idea."

"It's definitely disappointing. I'm shocked how someone could have something in their closet like that," he said.

After finding the dead infant, police searched the premises and found hidden inside a trunk in Freeman's bedroom two plastic bags containing infant human remains and a third containing what appeared to be a placenta.

The next day, police found yet another garbage bag filled with infant human remains inside a small motor home in Freeman's driveway.

Freeman, who lives with her boyfriend, Ray Godman, and her four children, was charged with first degree murder, second degree murder and manslaughter. All the charges are for the death of the first infant who was found. Police are investigating whether to charge Freeman with additional crimes, said Ocean City police Officer Vance Row.

Police are uncertain whether the remains of the other three infants belong to Freeman or whether she killed them, Row said.

A 'Very Quiet' Person

Freeman was the owner of Classic Taxi, a leading Ocean City cab service, and workers at other local cab companies who knew her said the gruesome charges had left them in a state of complete shock.

Frey, a manager at Century Taxi, described Freeman as an introvert, a "very quiet" person who was "a little finicky in her own way."

"She's just always been the type of person that I have to wave to and engage in conversation," he said.

He said that from time to time he had seen Freeman lose her temper — though he was quick to add that everyone does from time to time. "She got fired up a little bit once in a while. She'd get fired up over some stupid stuff," he said, declining to go into detail.

Frey contrasted Freeman with Godman, whom he described as a very extroverted and enthusiastic person — "like a happy old grandfather, very down to earth."

He said that despite their differences, Freeman and Godman got along very well.

"The two of them together, they seem like a stoner couple if you know what I mean, very laid back, happy people," he said.

Godman has not been charged with any crimes, Row told ABCNEWS.com.

Steve Morris, a dispatcher at Dave's Taxi in Ocean City, said Freeman was a regular at meetings of cab owners and city officials. He said she would often speak out for higher cab rates and came across as a "typical person."

Morris repeatedly used the word "shocked" to describe the tone among the small community of cabdrivers in Ocean City. He said that he saw Freeman frequently in town and that they would wave at each other, though they would rarely strike up a conversation.